The conventional apparatus of this type has the disadvantage that for their adjustment, two hands are always needed.
An object of the invention is to overcome this disadvantage and to provide an apparatus for enabling a longitudinal adjustment of ski-binding parts of the above disclosed type, wherein the ski-binding part can be unlocked with one hand, can be adjusted in the longitudinal direction of the ski and can again be locked in the desired position.
The object is inventively achieved primarily by a guide plate having in the region of its end remote from the ski boot downwardly extending projections, and by a slide plate, which is pivotally supported on the guide plate and is movable relative thereto, has two shoulders thereon at its end which is adjacent to a toothed locking member, which shoulders in the released position of the apparatus rest on the projections of the guide plate under the bias provided by at least one compression spring. Thus, as soon as the lock provided by the slide plate is released, same is held on the guide plate, for example, by a frictional contact, and the ski-binding part which is secured to the guide plate can be moved along the guide rail. When the desired position is reached, a pressing down on the slide plate is sufficient in order to again lock same with respect to the guide rail.
According to a further characteristic of the invention, the slide plate has an upwardly bent portion with at least one hole therein for its movable support on the guide plate, into which hole is movably supported at least one rod anchored on the guide plate and on which is sleevably mounted a compression spring. In this manner a certain movement between the slide plate and the guide plate is made possible during the adjusting operation and, at the same time, the risk of a separation of the two plates is reliably prevented.
According to a different characteristic of the invention, the slide plate has for its pivotal support on the guide plate at its end which is remote from the toothed locking member two further laterally spaced shoulders, which grip behind downwardly extending projections on the guide plate. This jointed connection between the guide plate and the slide plate makes it possible, in a particularly simple manner, on the one hand to achieve an upward swinging of the slide plate during the adjusting operation and on the other hand a movement of the same relative to the guide plate.
The movement of the free end of the slide plate in a vertical direction during the adjusting operation can, of course, be carried out in various ways. For example, rotatable eccentrics could be supported in the guide plate for this purpose. A particularly simple and reliable solution, however, is if, according to a further development of the invention, an upwardly directed, approximately U-shaped bar is arranged at the end of the slide plate adjacent the toothed locking member, which bar serves to receive a tool therebeneath, for example, the blade of a screwdriver, which is supported on the toothed locking member in the active or locked position. To release the lock, the screwdriver blade is introduced between the bar and the locking member and subsequently the handle of the screwdriver is swung upwardly so that the teeth of the toothed locking member disengage from the toothed bars on the guide rail and at the same time the shoulders of the slide plate come into frictional engagement with the projections on the guide plate. If the lock is again to be created, then the blade of the screwdriver applies a pressure onto the upper side of the bar, which brings the teeth of the locking member into engagement with the toothed bars of the guide rail.
According to a different characteristic of the invention, the slide plate has upwardly and thereafter outwardly directed angled portions defining pointers which extend through recesses in the guide plate and cooperate with scales which are arranged on the upper side of the guide plate. Through this characteristic it is possible at any time for the user to determine whether the force which is applied by one or more compression springs onto the ski boot lies within the desired area or whether it is too great or too small.
Furthermore, the guide plate inventively has a shoulder, which when the ski boot is inserted prevents the slide plate from swinging upwardly. This makes an unintended release of the lock during skiing impossible.
Furthermore, the invention provides that the support surfaces on the projections on the guide plate are inclined generally rearwardly at least over a portion of their length. Through this characteristic the upward movement of the slide plate is made easier on the one hand and on the other hand the locking operation is supported to a certain degree.
Finally, it is possible according to the invention, in order to lock the upwardly swung slide plate an unintended swinging back to the locked position thereof, to arrange a cam or a stamped bead or the like in the support surface of each of the rear shoulders of the guide plate. It is not sufficient in this embodiment to overcome during the downward swinging of the slide plate only the frictional force between the projections on the guide plate and the shoulders on the slide plate. Instead, a considerably greater downward force must be applied, which moves the slide plate against the force of the compression spring over the two cams or stampings.